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Economy

Spanish GDP growth gathers speed

Second-quarter GDP growth in Spain has come in at its strongest since 2007, before the country sank into recession. It's the country's fastest growth since 2007.

In a further sign of Spain's bounce-back from
a debilitating recession, its economy grew by 0.6 percent in the second quarter compared with the previous three months.

Spain is the eurozone's fourth-largest economy. It's the country's fourth consecutive quarter of growth, meaning GDP there has now grown 1.2 percent over the last 12 months. The second-quarter figures mark a 0.4 percent spurt over the first quarter, and are the best results since Q4 2007, when output grew by 0.7 percent.

Spain fell into the first of two severe recessions in the second half of 2008 after its real-estate sector collapsed. The country's banks were heavily exposed to the collapse, and
urgently needed recapitalization. The ECB/EU/IMF eventually stepped in with a
100 billion euro bailout. Spain emerged from a second slump, which many blame on austerity measures attached to the bailout, in late 2013.